‘Way to go!’ she heard from the water. ‘Gooooo, ladies!’
Aaron was shouting, Jude whooping and their father yelling, ‘Come on, you wusses!’
The first wave hit them and they screamed. The cold sucked her breath away, but exhilarated her. They were still holding hands, wading chest deep in the surf.
‘Wave!’ Anna shouted. ‘Jump!’
They let go, jumped in unison, were taken up by the breaker and deposited down. The cold was biting, impossible to stand. Ellie struck out, thrashing at the water to try and get warm. She swam towards her father, who was bobbing up and down a few yards away. Scarlett and her mother were alongside her, splashing and swimming, shrieking with the cold and excitement.
‘Fuckkkkkk!’
Behind them, a screech pierced the air, even above the waves. Ellie was out of her depth, so she stopped swimming, trod water and turned.
Mallory was yelling, arms in the air. A huge wave picked him up and he vanished in the white water. A second later, it spewed him onto the shingle.
Ellie allowed herself to float up and down with the calmer water beyond the surf.
Troy Carman and Bryony Cronk were ankle deep, hauling Mallory in like a stranded fish. He was spluttering and coughing.
The klaxon blared.
‘Oh no, people, looks like we have a casualty!’ Evie shouted.
The lifeboat crew reached Mallory but he waved an angry arm at them. Meanwhile Bryony’s dog had started barking at him. Ellie saw his wife grab his arm as he tried to scramble to his feet, but he staggered and fell flat onto the shingle. Some of the swimmers were already out of the water, but Jude and Scarlett and her parents were still swimming and splashing each other.
A little further out, Ellie saw Aaron swimming towards her, with long powerful strokes. Ignoring the cold, she turned away from the beach and struck out to meet him. He was within his depth but he had to hold onto her once they reached each other, to keep her above the water.
‘It’s freezing in here. I m-must be out of my m-mind,’ she said, her teeth chattering.
‘I didn’t think you were going to come in at all. Ellie, I am so sorry. I’ve made the biggest mess of my life and I’m going to regret it for the rest of my days unless you let me try to make it up to you. Please, please, give me at least some hope that I can start to make amends.’
His eyes held such a heartfelt plea, such agony that Ellie couldn’t hold out any longer. What point was there in tormenting herself or him when she longed for happiness with Aaron, just as much as he clearly did with her. She wanted to hear more about what he’d been through and try to work through their problems, just as her parents had.
‘I almost didn’t turn up today either,’ she said softly. ‘But here I am. With you.’
‘I can’t believe it.’ The hope on his face made her want to cry. He held her tighter as the swell lifted them up and down.
Ellie was turning blue. ‘I s-saw Liza a few minutes ago. She told me a bit about what h-happened in Afghanistan.’
‘What? I didn’t ask her to. I don’t talk about that.’
‘I k-know but you can and you should. We both should. We should have no more secrets from each other. Ever.’ She saw the relief in his eyes, and her heart swelled with optimism about the future. ‘Now, c-can we please get out of here before one of us gets hypothermia?’
He laughed. ‘Best idea you’ve had all year.’
He carried her until she could stand up, then hand in hand they braved the surf and waded towards the shore.
THE END
‘Did you love A Perfect Cornish Christmas? Countdown to summer for Phillipa’s next heartwarming novel, A Perfect Cornish Escape, coming June 2020. Click here to preorder now!’
Acknowledgements
The two main people I’d like to thank for help with this book are Dave Hamilton – forager, historian and author of Family Foraging. Find him among the sea beet at www.davehamilton.co.uk and @davewildish on Twitter.
Also my daughter, Dr CJ, a lecturer and researcher in genetics and ancient DNA, who first suggested the spark of the idea on a Boxing Day family walk. I may have actually jumped up and down in glee as I realised that I couldn’t wait to start writing it.
As ever, the process of getting that idea to finished page is a team effort, so thank you to the amazing team at Avon Books including my editors Rachel Faulkner-Willcocks and Tilda McDonald, copy editor Jo Gledhill, and the publicity, sales and marketing dream team of Sabah, Sophie and Dom who help to put the book into the hands of you, the reader.
Authors don’t have colleagues and we spend so much time alone that we need friends and supporters to cheer us on and help us through the tough times. I’d like to thank in particular bookseller Janice Hume, Nell Dixon, Liz Hanbury, Bella Osborne, Sarah Bennett, Rachel Griffiths and Jules Wake for being simply awesome.
Finally, I’d like to thank my wonderful agent, Broo Doherty, and my family, especially Mum, Dad, Charles, James, CJ and John. ILY x
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About the Author
PHILLIPA ASHLEY writes warm, funny romantic fiction for a variety of world-famous international publishers.
After studying English at Oxford, she worked as a copywriter and journalist. Her first novel, Decent Exposure, won the RNA New Writers Award and was made into a TV movie called 12 Men of Christmas starring Kristin Chenoweth and Josh Hopkins. As Pippa Croft, she also wrote the Oxford Blue series – The First Time We Met, The Second Time I Saw You and Third Time Lucky.
Phillipa lives in a Staffordshire village and has an engineer husband and scientist daughter who indulge her arty whims. She runs a holiday-let business in the Lake District, but a big part of her heart belongs to Cornwall. She visits the county several times a year for ‘research purposes’, an arduous task that involves sampling cream teas, swimming in wild Cornish coves and following actors around film shoots in a camper van. Her hobbies include watching Poldark, Earl Grey tea, Prosecco-tasting and falling off surf boards in front of RNLI lifeguards.
@PhillipaAshley
Also by Phillipa Ashley
The Cornish Café Series
Summer at the Cornish Café
Christmas at the Cornish Café
Confetti at the Cornish Café
The Little Cornish Isles Series
Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles: The Driftwood Inn
Spring on the Little Cornish Isles: The Flower Farm
Summer on the Little Cornish Isles: The Starfish Studio
The Porthmellow Series
A Perfect Cornish Summer
About the Publisher
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United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
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